Capitol Alert

California lawmakers took a major step Thursday toward carving an exception in public records law they said would enhance the safety of peace officers, judges, probation officers and other law enforcement personnel.

Without a dissenting vote, the Assembly passed legislation that would allow counties to create a program allowing law enforcement personnel to redact names from property records available to the public.

Assembly Bill 2299 passed the lower house, 65-0. It now goes to the Senate.

"Let's make the protection of officers' families meaningful," Assemblyman Mike Feuer said in floor debate on his bill.

A group that set out to hold an online nominating convention for the presidential contest has thrown in the towel on its goal of selecting an alternative, bipartisan ticket for the 2012 election.

"There is a desire among Delegates and millions of Americans who have supported Americans Elect to see a credible candidate emerge from this process. However, the rules, as developed in consultation with the Americans Elect Delegates, are clear. As of this week, no candidate achieved the national support threshold required to enter the Americans Elect Online Convention in June. The primary process for the Americans Elect nomination has come to an end," a statement released by the organization today reads.

Despite wealthy backers, Web infrastructure and ballot access in all 50 states, the movement was unable to attract serious candidates to compete in its primary process.

Though its ticket will not be on the ballot this November, the statement released today said the group is "continuing the Americans Elect mission of creating more choice in our political system, giving candidates unaffiliated with the nominating process of either major party an authentic way to run for office and giving the American people a greater voice in our political process."

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The state political watchdog agency moved today to post financial disclosure forms submitted by California judges online.

The California Judges Association has fought for months for an exemption to a 2010 regulation requiring that the statement of economic interest forms filed by certain elected officials, including the governor, legislators and county supervisors, are posted on the Internet.

The association argued that information contained in the forms, such as property ownership or a spouse's place of work, could jeopardize the safety of their families if it was available on a smartphone or in just a few clicks online.

"We see this as an issue of life and limb," California Judges Association President David Rubin, a San Diego judge, said in an interview today. "We don't want people beaten, murdered, raped, what have you, because of an irate litigant."

Instead of carving out an exception for judges, the Fair Political Practices Commission voted today to approve a new policy that allows all filers subject to online posting to request redaction of sensitive information, such as the name of a family member or the address of their workplace.

California's judicial civil war -- judge against judge over money and power -- has been rekindled by Gov. Jerry Brown's revised state budget.

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye convened a special meeting of the state Judicial Council in Sacramento today to discuss Brown's proposed cuts in state support for the courts. Right off the bat, a member of the rebel Alliance of California Judges berated the body for cutting money for trial courts while maintaining a bloated judicial bureaucracy in San Francisco and wasting money on a now-abandoned statewide computer system.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White delivered the broadside, pointing out that he and his colleagues had warned of continued cuts in state funding and complained that the judicial leadership -- Cantil-Sakauye and her predecessor, Ron George -- had ignored them.

"We were right," White told members of the council. "The time has come to stop and change that."

A whistle-blower fired while cooperating with a state probe of the Commission on Teacher Credentialing about 18 months ago has lost her appeal before the State Personnel Board.

Kathy Carroll failed to prove that she was dismissed because of whistle-blowing and her job performance included incidents of insubordination and other misbehavior that warranted sanction, the board found.

Carroll, a former commission attorney, said the ruling was political and followed a hearing before an administrative law judge in which she was not given adequate time or allowed to present all her witnesses.

"It was a kangaroo court," Carroll said in an interview Wednesday.

Commission officials called the ruling "complete, comprehensive and well-reasoned" but declined comments on specific findings.

Carroll, 50, was fired in November 2010 during a state investigation of the commission, which is charged with credentialing teachers, sanctioning them for misconduct, and accrediting teacher credential programs.

The probe ended with State Auditor Elaine Howle calling the agency one of the "worst run" that she ever has investigated.

Latinos will become California's largest ethnic group very soon, a new Census Bureau report indicates.

The bureau issued its first post-2010 census estimates of population growth, birth rates, age cohorts, and racial and ethnic characteristics.

It pegs California's Latino population (it uses the term "Hispanic") at 14.4 million, 38.2 percent of the state's 37.7 million residents, while the non-Hispanic white population is just under 15 million or 39.7 percent, dropping below the 40 percent mark for the first time.

Republican Leroy Ornellas is airing his first television spot in the targeted 5th Senate District.

The San Joaquin County supervisor is battling Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, R-Stockton, for one of two November runoff spots in the swing district, which encompasses all of San Joaquin County and part of Stanislaus County. The third candidate on the ballot, Democratic Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, is expected to make it to November by carrying the Democratic voters in the primary.

The 30-second ad, which is running on cable stations through the June 5 primary, is centered on the Tracy dairy farmer's "no more bull" appeal as the only candidate who is not currently serving in Sacramento.

"I've been a dairy farmer all my life and I know bull when I see it and I see a lot of it in Sacramento," he says in the spot, which is posted below. "I see politicians fighting, not solving problems, raising taxes, not cutting waste."

Berryhill, who had to move into the district to be eligible to run, has the backing of the Senate Republican Caucus and some powerful Sacramento interests. A committee funded largely by the California Medical Association, for example, recently reported spending $33,500 on mail pieces opposing Ornellas. The Senate GOP believes Berryhill has a better shot of defeating Galgiani in the seat.

VIDEO: Dan Walters questions if term limits have had their desired impact on the California Capitol.

Have a question you'd like Dan to answer? Post it on our Facebook page.

See other Dan Walters Daily clips here.

Read Dan Walters' columns here.

VIDEO: Dan Walters asks in today's video report whether legislative term limits have done what they were supposed to do since California voters approved them back in 1990.

The funding dispute between the Judicial Council of California and the Alliance of California Judges spills over into the council's emergency meeting this morning. Sacramento Superior Court Judge Steve White of the alliance is expected to argue that the state Administrative Office of the Courts should see cuts before local courts take another budget hit.

Gov. Jerry Brown's revised budget would require the state court system to use reserve funds and delay its courthouse construction program, a $544 million cut, as Kevin Yamamura reported earlier this week.

The San Francisco-based council, which Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye heads, is considering how Brown's revised numbers will affect the court system. Brown's finance director, Ana Matosantos, is also scheduled to speak at the meeting, which starts at 11 a.m. at the AOC's regional office in Sacramento at 2860 Gateway Oaks Drive. Click here for the agenda.

The alliance has accused the council and the AOC of wasting money on bureaucracy, a computer system and the courthouse construction, columnist Dan Walters wrote in a column last month.

Meanwhile, members of the California arm of the Society for Human Resource Management are at Sacramento's Hyatt Regency Hotel for a two-day legislative conference.

Today, they'll be lobbying legislators from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on two measures -- Assembly Bill 1450, which would ban employers from screening out applicants who aren't employed, and Assembly Bill 2039, which would expand family and medical leave to include an adult child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner or parent-in-law. The California Chamber of Commerce and other business groups oppose both bills.

Both the Senate and the Assembly have set floor sessions for 9 a.m. Three budget panels meet in the upper house, with Proposition 98 formulas for K-14 education and prison spending among the issues. An Assembly subcommittee will consider Brown's revised proposals for health and human services. Click here to read the Senate's schedule, and click here to read the Assembly's.

CAPITOL STEPS: Members of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, is holding a presser at 10 a.m. on the south steps to announce opposition to Assembly Bill 1544 by Democratic Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez, which would set up a guest worker program for employees in agriculture, domestic and janitorial services, housekeeping and food preparation. The California Hunger Action Coalition, meanwhile, is sponsoring a rally on the north steps at noon in between visits to legislators.

LIVE CHAT: Jon Ortiz, The Bee's baron of our sister blog The State Worker, will be taking questions about Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed four-day workweek for state employees. The hour-long live chat starts at noon. You can find the chat at this link, where you may also sign up for an email reminder before it starts.

CAPTION CONTEST: The Bee's editorial board is sponsoring a caption contest for guest cartoonist Steve Greenberg's depiction of Gov. Jerry Brown dressed as the Grim Reaper while unveiling his revised budget. Find the cartoon at this link. The winner gets a signed color print of the cartoon with the winning caption in the word bubble. The deadline for submitting captions is noon today.

CAKE AND CANDLES: Sen. Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, turns 58 today.